Princess of the Poor
by ochreish
Summary: In the world of the elite, her poverty was her crown of thorns. She wore it with pride. AU. A collection series.
1. When

**When / **Princess of the Poor**. **  
_Cha Eun-sang is brash, breezy and insolently defiant. She is the biggest thorn at his side, and in his heart. AU. _

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WARNING: love triangles, catty high-schoolers, korean-esque dialogue and an unashamed what if? universe. What if Eun-sang had grown up living among the elite? Expect an Eun-sang with more spunk than self-preservation.

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_Choi Young-do_.

It was a regular day for Choi Young-do. Now that Kim Tan was stuck in LA, the entire student body feared him and he could finally wear his crown in peace. But that didn't mean he could be complacent. After all, one couldn't stay on top by remaining still; like his father's hotel chain, he had finally become top-dog, but now came the troublesome part: consolidating his power.

If he was following his father's example that meant picking a scapegoat to make an example of. Now where was he supposed to find one of those? Then, right when he needed it, one of _them_ came rushing by. _Perfect_.

He smiled, baring his teeth. He was going to enjoy sinking his teeth into this one; he always did.

"Ah, Joon-young, _friend_. What's the hurry? Spare a couple of minutes for your old buddie, hmm?" A strong noogie to the head emphasised his point- his father had never been afraid to use his hand to protect his standing. It was fucking obvious that he was the last guy on the planet wimpy Joon-young wanted to see, if his pitiful trembling was anything to go by. _Good. If glasses-boy is here she'll be sure to turn up... _It was all going to plan.

Cue countdown. 5, 4, 3, 2... She appeared. His smile widened with a crooked sort of sincerity.

"Hey, Cha Eunsang, what a pleasure to see you this lovely day. I was just having a chat with my buddy Joon-young here." Joon-young was looking at her as if she were the Messiah. He gave the runt a pointed shove to remind him that he was still here.

And, as always, Cha Eunsang ignored him completely. He stiffened._ The nerve of the bitch_.

"Joon-young, are you okay?" She came closer, all the while not even bothering to spare a glance for Young-do.

Young-do gritted his teeth and tightened his grasp on Joon-young's shoulder.

"Joon-young is _fine_, right Joon-young? _Friend_?" His tone turned menacing.

Joon-young whimpered and nodded pathetically.

Still, there was no acknowledgement. She walked closer. "Joon-young, Teacher asked us to fetch supplies for the next class. We should hurry before the end of break." And then, as if it were all perfectly normal, she walked past, grabbed Joon-young's hand and started to converse as if nothing had happened.

"Joon-young-ah," she said, all pretty smiles and low-class charm; her glossy hair swished past and hit him in the face. "Did you read that email I sent yesterday? Our mom told me to ask your mom if she wanted some _kimchi_, we made a lot yesterday."

He clenched his fists. _Of all the infuriating people._.. Honestly, was there no respite? If Kim Tan was his sworn enemy, Cha Eunsang was the sharpest thorn at his side. And he hated them both.

He had always been taught to hate those beneath him, and he despised how he had to mix with uppity climbers that didn't know their place. So, when he first laid his eyes on Joon-young in middle school, he had made it his business to make the charity-case's life hell. Too bad the guy came with a nasty pet: Cha Eunsang. She had fought him from day one.

Back when he and Tan had been friends, they had poured their lunch all over Joon-young at Induction and had laughed at his reaction afterwards; the bitch had responded by shoving _her_ lunch in both their faces.

"Idiot clowns," she had said, with all the airs of a princess. By this point the room was as quiet as a bad bank statement. "Deserve to wear make-up, right? How's the taste of justice, clown-boys?"

He gritted his teeth.

Then, if only to humiliate him further, she continued, musing to herself as if she owned the building. "Wow, Cha Eunsang, hasn't this been a great day? Ah, these upper-class children are just as expected, neh? Hmm, too bad I had to waste my lunch on these unworthy clowns..." And with a teasing wink in his direction, she took the wimpy Joon-young and left with the last word.

Kim Tan, whose family _did_ own the building, stared at her retreating figure with an awestruck expression. And he, Choi Young-do, was in such shock that he could do nothing but stew in a lunch of kimbap and kimchi. The subdued snickers around the room hit his ears like missiles, leaving the ends red with fury. It was one of the most demeaning experiences of his life.

With an expression of disgust, he picked off a stray stand of lettuce from his hair and swore vulgarly. Kim Tan, who was looking more amused than angry by the whole situation, went - sparing an absent nod in his direction - leaving him at the table to think over his emotions.

"_Aish_!" Young-do hissed, slamming his hand on the table. The red sting of pain had always helped to alleviate his anger. The students nearby stared at him warily; his temper was infamous in Jeguk, and there was nothing stopping him from unleashing it. Except for one thing. _Excitement_. Her smile, so teasing, flickered before his eyes and pumped his veins with adrenaline. What would it be like to possess something as fiery as Cha Eunsang? To keep her close? He spared a thought for his mother. Mother had been a passionate woman: indulgent in excess and foolishly fearless. Father had been unable to keep her caged as he wanted, but would the son be able to succeed where the father had failed? The thought was entirely too tempting for his own good. The scent of a good challenge was almost as good as victory itself.

So he went out of his way to torment her at any given occasion. Wherever Cha Eunsang was, Choi Young-do made sure to be there, but to no avail. Dirt-poor, pretty Cha Eunsang wouldn't give him the light of day. He would torment, and she would ignore. He would torment her friends, and she would quietly oppose. And before he knew it, four years had passed and the only thing that had changed was his level of frustration.

He wanted her to look at him. He wanted her to acknowledge his presence. Without her, victory was half-assed and left a stale aftertaste in his mouth. Only when she fully submitted to him - stood next him - would he be satisfied. Until then, he would work hard to win her. He deserved her more than anybody else, and he would keep her like he wasn't able to keep others.

-_TBC_.


	2. Covert

**Covert** / Princess of the Poor.  
_Cha Eunsang is the victim of Choi Young-do's overactive imagination. _

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WARNING: Middle school, set in a world where Cha Eunsang has gone to school with the heirs since elementary. Drabble-esque. NOT related to the previous chapter. By this point, Cha Eunsang is ignorant of the enmity between CYD and KT, LOL.

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_Choi Young-do. _

Cha Eunsang, poor girl extraordinaire, was staring out the window again. She had taken to the habit, he noticed, a few days after the departure of his greatest enemy. He couldn't count the amount of lessons he had spent observing her, head propped on hand.

In his imagination, she was looking out into the endless summer rain while thinking of Kim Tan. Following this train of thought, he could envisage a single tear falling and trailing against the natural curve of her smooth, pale skin and then travelling down into the Forbidden Zone - the area where the collar of their million-won uniform would cross the milky column of her neck...

He cursed inwardly. Trust the bastard - _hey, he wasn't lying_ - to occupy her thoughts halfway across the world. Honestly, couldn't Kim Tan give him a break once in a while? He had to admit that the privilege of watching pretty, poor Cha Eunsang pine after Kim Tan was starting to get old, _really_ quickly. Man, it wasn't as if Kim Tan was that great anyway. So what if the bastard had saved her from drowning? She could swim; he had made sure of that _before_ he had pushed her in.

"Choi Young-do." He looked up. Ah, angry English teacher. _Jackpot_.

"Ah, teacher, do you need something?" His reply was impertinent, but everyone expected it from him. A few seats away, Cha Eunsang hadn't even bothered to look from the window. He was disappointed - maybe today was the time for another prank?

"As a matter of fact, Choi Young-do, there is something I need from you. Page 294," a heavy book was shoved in front of him, "Read. _Now_."

The book was resting so close to his face that the words looked more like chicken scat than English. He voiced this thought, and had sat in triumph as the other students laughed. But still, the window remained triumphant.

"Wow, how brave. I'm sure that your father would love to hear about your reluctance to read." And there went his biggest weakness. God, did every teacher have to pull the Daddy Card so early into the game?

And so, with much reluctance, he turned towards the board and read the assigned page - pausing many a time to give an occasional sigh, a well-placed yawn. Still, no reaction. What made an absent Kim Tan so much better than a present, hilarious Choi Young-do? Whatever it was, he was going to find out.

.

Meanwhile, Cha Eun-sang gave a sigh of relief as Choi Young-do started to read the page. It was really uncomfortable to pretend not to notice him staring for over an hour, and Choi Young-do had taken to staring at her a lot these days. She shuddered. _Please not another prank_... Recently, it seemed like he only came into school to pull tricks on her. Honestly, and she never thought she'd ever say this, she wished Kim Tan was still here; Young-do seemed to have taken his departure badly and she was tired of being his outlet.

-_fin_.


	3. The Crooked Road, Part 1 of 2

**The Crooked Road** / Princess of the Poor.  
_Choi Young-do's life comes full circle. He is finally content. Most definitely AU._

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WARNING: canon is liberally taken advantage of, so is Young-do, in fact, so is everybody. No mentions of Kim Tan (sorry!), Yoo Rachel is interesting (and not in the good way - sorry again!) and the writing style is... different, waay different (no apologies this time 'cause I'm a'ight with it)

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_Choi Young-do_.

He is five, and he has it all. Father, when he sees him, is kind and showers him with presents. _Omma_, who is always with him, is not only his mother, but his best friend. She showers him with love, and he adores her for it.

It doesn't occur to him that his father only visits him on Fridays in timed thirty-minute slots, or that his mother is never around for his visits. Likewise, he doesn't notice that his mother has a pill for seemingly everything, even as the key to her medicine cabinet swings possessively around her neck.

Everything is good, because everything is simple. And everything is simple because he is five years old.

.

Ten years old, and school is his haven. Father is a bully, and he likes to bully those around him with sharp looks and even sharper words. The scar on his neck is a reminder of how sharp Father can really be. Mother, like Father, has changed. She is always tired and though she plays sometimes, she sleeps the rest away. But he still loves her because he remembers, and as long as he has his memories, he will continue to love her.

The latest playground craze is reading palms. The trend started in a low-income, low-class neighbourhood, but the kids in Jeguk Elementary are obsessed with it, and rampantly demand predictions of their futures.

His sadness and frustration has turned him into somewhat of a bully, so it doesn't surprise his classmates when he shamelessly jumps the queue to demand Jo Myung-soo, that funny fat kid, to read his palm.

"I don't care about how long I live, or who I love, so just tell me the rest." He demands firmly, and his palm-reader nods slowly, reaching for his hand.

In class, Myung-soo is stupid and slow, but the reading tumbles out of his mouth quickly and uncontrollably.

"You're gonna lose a lot. Your emotion line is all broken up, see?" He announces in that squeaky voice of his. "The line is straight further on, but who knows when things'll pick up! Next!"

The words haunt him, and he spends many restless nights twisting and turning, looking at the jagged middle line of his palm. He wants to go up to Myung-soo and demand another palm-reading, but his pride stops him before he can even make an attempt. The very next day he finds _omma_ lying stone-cold on the floor of her marble floor, white hands cradled underneath her head.

He lifts them up and pries them open, and watches the key to her cabinet fall to the floor. Blood is seeping out of her hand, and he looks on in horror at the jagged slash that cuts through the lines of her palm.

.

He is fifteen, _omma_ is gone, and his memories are no longer fresh. Father is still a bully, a rabid pitbull of a man, and Wife Number Four is a calculating bitch. Through this marriage he has acquired a sister, Rachel, who mistakenly thinks they are suffering through the same sorts of problems. He shuts her down before she even has a chance to ask for a ride from Father's conference room where the pre-nup was signed.

In the end, they both end up going to Jeguk High, and she proves to be a vindictive little thing, always biting him whenever she gets the chance.

"Sister," he coos mockingly. "Why don't you come here and be a good little sister?" It's enough to drive her to the edge, and he only stops when she mentions the key that hangs around his neck.

"A little low-class," she observes snidely. "Souvenir from mommy dearest?" She's hit his weakness right on the head, so he hits back at hers, and soon, he's pulling back as she tries to shove her tongue in his mouth.

"Nice moves, sister," he taunts, and makes a point of wiping off any traces of her slick lipstick from the corner of his mouth. "Just a little more practice and you'll be sure to catch a rich, _old_ man!"

She's looking at him with an emotion that he's seen many times before, and he feels his worry alleviating. But that feeling of being cornered still hasn't left him, so he makes sure to lay it on extra thick. "Like mommy like daughter, _hmm_?"

After that incident, she never speaks to him again, and the key remains his secret.

.

A few months later and he's sixteen. Rachel is no longer his sister (she's engaged to some guy overseas) and he's bored out of his mind. Father is still a bullying bastard, on the prowl for Wife Number Five, and his presence is constantly hanging over him like an inescapable shadow. So he goes out, away from the prestige of Gangnam, and starts hanging out in the shiftier parts of town.

Soon, after a few months of getting used to the crowd, he gets caught up in the racing scene. He's addicted to the buzz, and hey, it's a way to kill time. He rides any race he can catch, and soon, he's built up a reputation for being reckless, stupidly reckless. Everyone 'round the track calls him Crazy, and even though he loses loads of races, he wins a bunch of girls. He takes them for rides on his bike, and afterwards, usually at their request, other kinds of rides. Like racing, he likes them (and sex) hard, fast and energetic, and he is consciously, but uncontrollably, spiraling out of control. And the key, witness to all his debauchery and madness, hangs off his neck, leaving its mark pointedly and reassuringly. He hasn't forgotten just yet.

.

Wife Number Five soon enters Father's life, and by this point, Father's grip on his life is gone, so he doesn't attend any of the marriage meetings, the conferences, or even the wedding. It's scandalous, but he doesn't give a shit, and in any case, he has a girl of his own: Cha Eunsang. And she is everything to him.

She isn't like his usual kind of girl, and it's the first time he's ever been this interested. She works the late-shift at the track as an assistant and she knows bikes and cars and vans and trucks like the back of her dainty hand. She's a go-getter and from the moment she meets him, she tells him that he's crazy and that he better pay her to fix his bike "'cause luck is the only thing keeping you on your bike right now, Mister."

He'd find that kind of sass annoying on most girls, but her smile is winsome, and he can't help feeling charmed by her seemingly endless laughter. He watches tentatively when she turns toward him and tries to stop her giggles from spilling over the hand covering her mouth.

"Glad to see you're having a good time at my expense," he remarks casually, raising an eyebrow at her little display.

"I am having a good time, thank you," she declares, her eyes twinkling wildly. "And it's not at your expense at all! In fact, you should be laughing with me. I'm just imagining the other racers' faces when you win!"

Strange, strange girl, but very cute. She's looking up at him through her lashes, and his gulp is audible. The tension is palpable.

"What makes you so sure I'll win?"

Her reply is a teasing, "Because I'll be fixing up your bike! But really, I know my racing: you're a rookie on the track but you've been getting third consistently!" She pauses for a second, before leaning closer; he smells grease and notes of something sweeter on her, and the scent turns him on more than it should. "You're really good," she whispers, "Imagine how good you'd be with an _even better_ bike!" Another quirk of her lips and he's sold, handing over the keys to his bike easily.

For a second, she looks at the keys in her hand with shock, and then up at him. "_Really_?" she whispers, as if he's given all the Prada, Gucci and Chanel the world has to offer.

"Hey," he replies, holding his hands up. "You know your bikes, and you drove a bargain I couldn't pass up." Then he's the one leaning closer, bending down, until their eyes are level. "I'm entrusting you with my baby; take good care of her, yeah?"

She doesn't blink, but she does grin. "Of course!" And then she turns, looking at one of the head engineers with glee. "Look, Uncle!" she announces, animatedly holding up the keys. "My first solo job!"

Uncle, who's a strangely familiar face to him, looks gobsmacked. "_Ohmo_. Good job, Eunsang!" She runs up, and as her uncle turns to catch her, he catches a glimpse of a familiar emblem. It's the name of Jo Myung-soo's company and the thought of Jo Myung-soo brings back many memories, and none of them particularly good. Suddenly, Uncle, in between hugs with Cha Eunsang, catches his eyes and grins. And the smile is hauntingly like Myung-soo's in the playground, all those years ago.

.

A week later, and he's feeling ecstatic and floored. He's just won the race, and he can't believe it-first place for a rookie! There is nothing in the world that can make him believe that he, Choi Young-do, has just won this race. Except for one thing. She's next to him congratulating him and smiling up at him with stars in her eyes. The grease on the side of her face and the adrenaline pumping through he veins makes him want to kiss her. So he does, and it feels like winning and so much more. Before he knows it, he's asking her out and she's shuffling her feet about to say yes. Father is furious when he arrives home smelling like fuel and alcohol, but somehow getting the living daylight punched out of him isn't as painful as it was two days ago.

.

The next day, he's forced to go to school (after skipping a month's worth of lessons) and he doesn't mind because school is closer to the track than home and that suits him just fine. So imagine his surprise when he brazenly walks into the classroom to find Cha Eunsang sitting prettily at the desk in front of him.

She looks just as shocked as he does, and does nothing but blink.

Myung-soo, who has long since shed the pounds, is the only one to speak up, and when he does, he is only more confused. "Eunsang," he asks, "How d'you know Choi Young-do? And wow! Look at the face you're making... Daebak. Say cheese!" A sudden flash, and her shocked face is spinning right in front of his eyes.

"You," he pronounces, pointing at Myung-soo. "How do _you_ know Eunsang?"

There's a flash of something in Myung-soo's eyes, and his reply is a lofty, "Why wouldn't I know her? We're _best friends_." - as if the title is equivalent to _boyfriend_ - "And why are _you_ being so informal? A little rude, _neh_?" A universal gasp, and everyone's eyes are on Eunsang. His eyes are on Eunsang, he walks up to her and bends down so their eyes are level.

"What's going on?" he whispers. "Why are you here?" She isn't meant to be a part of this world; spunky, sweet Cha Eunsang is not meant to witness the power and corruption of his world.

There is no hesitance when she looks him in the eye, and the pounding in his head lessens. "I have no idea what's going on, but I can explain."

He takes one look at Myung-soo, who is poised to get out of his seat, and it dawns on him that he has competition, because there's no way Jo Myung-soo - easy-going, I-take-a-chill-pill Myung-soo - would act like this for just anyone. The thought of competition sends a burst of adrenaline rushing through him, and suddenly, the room is suffocating.

"Excuse us for a sec," he rumbles gruffly to the teacher, who's standing awkwardly near the door. And in one swift motion, he lifts Eunsang to her feet and drags her out the room. They are almost near the gate when he notices how cold her hands are.

"Are you alright?" he asks guiltily, eying her stiff form nervously. Without asking, he takes her hands between his and starts warming them with his breath. Slowly, she takes deep breaths in before opening her eyes. He looks at her with rapture, and then relief when she smiles up at him.

"I'm okay now," she affirms, her cheeks dimpling. "Well, I have a feeling it won't be good going back straight away... So, how about we get something to eat? My treat, or yours?"

"Mine, of course," he replies, rolling his eyes. Then, they're walking down the street: hand-in-hand and palm-to-palm.

"_Oh_!" she declares. "Isn't this so exciting? Our first date!" For now, he is content.

_**-TBC**_.


End file.
